Happy birthday to friends from my childhood

Turning eighty. It’s been done before, but it seems special when the individual, or individuals in this case, represented youth and vitality for a generation. Never mind that one of them wore a rug … he was still cool. He still is cool.Yeah, I’m writing about the SHAT and Mr. Spock.William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy turn 80 this year.Hokey Smokes, Bullwinkle! Can that be true?There’s a part of me that wants to write ‘Phasers on maudlin’ as if to distance myself from this, but that would be to diminish what was a vital ingredient of my youth.I was six or seven when I watched my first Star Trek episode(Wolf in the Fold) and other than the few visual clues that helped me peg the episode a few years later, I didn’t remember much. Later I was hooked. I never wore ears, or a uniform but it was a big part of growing up.I was always a Kirk fan, but no denying the Spock mystique, or the fact that Nimoy aged more gracefully than his erstwhile commanding officer.When Star Trek the Motion Picture came out it was a month or so after my first plane ride, and I felt I could identify with Kirk boarding the (The definite article was still in use on Trek then.) Enterprise. That is my badge of geekdom.Star Trek 2: the Wrath of Khan, brought us to the reality that these guys were aging. The next few movies seemed to be living in denial of that reality.To see what Shatner and Nimoy have done away from Trek has been gratifying to fans of the actors and performers.Wishing both men healthy and happy birthdays, and many more to come.Our son Wyatt turns seven this month. Wyatt is our effort to boldly go into the future . We hope we do it with as much dignity and purpose as these two gentlemen have come to embody.

Regards,Wayne

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Author: duplezwrites

I have been in Asia since early 1996, and have taught in local schools, universities and language schools in South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, and China. I was director of studies at language schools in China and a secondary school administrator in Indonesia. Along the way, I've been a teacher-trainer in Korea, China, Thailand, and Indonesia.
More importantly, and I hope more efficiently, I've been a husband, father and grandfather.
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